French duo Justice is returning with Hyperdrama, their first album in 8 years. They released two songs today; one, a collaboration with Tame Impala called "One Night/All Night," and two, the industrial rave track "Generator" with a wonderful disco/spy movie strings breakdown in the middle.
Brian Lindgren, better known by his producer moniker, Mux Mool, is a throw anything against the wall and see what sticks type of guy, whose debut Skulltaste was almost too eclectic for its own good. It held my interest, only because it dared you to not like it. But the constant genre hopping could get rather exhausting. His latest LP, Planet High School, doesn't really change that game plan much, but there seems to be a method to the madness this time around, each track working with each other instead of against the grain. The album, while definitely flashy in parts, gives the listener time to get into the flow, each track growing better and better in the mix. By the end of the album, you are totally on board with what he is doing. Does Lindgren limit himself to a few genres this time, making his definitive statement for each? Not really; there is still the restlessness apparent. In describing his sound to a friend of mine, I noted that it sounds like four record collectors running into each other, their albums all getting mixed up, with a little hip-hop, bass music, beat music, old school house, and early 80s robo-funk-R&B thrown in for equal measure. But instead of being an unholy mess, it mixes well together like a Reeses' cup.
The beginning of the record starts out more subdued. Drawing from DJ Shadow's crate digging experimentalism and Boards of Canada's elegant pastoral IDM, "Brothers" is a stunning down-tempo track full of hip-hop beats, and atmospheric keyboards.
"Live at 7-11" continues the low-key vibe, featuring a funky organ and lush synth underbase, before a late beat music breakdown that wouldn't be out of place on any current Brainfeeder release.
Just as things seem to be staying a little too sleepy with the languid beats of "Palace Chalice" and "Ruin Everything," Lindgren starts notching things up, adding faster tempos and more intricate layers into the mix. "The Butterfly Technique" adds crisp drums, piano rolls, and clipped vocal samples into a heavenly mesh with 80's R&B synths and bells. The late song drum freakout is stunning.
"Raw Gore" feels like the lovechild of Cameo/The Gap Band and Flying Lotus. The shuffling drum programming driving the 80s robo-synths into a fury.
"Cash For Gold" is the best Daft Punk song that Justice has been trying to make for years.
Which all leads to the amazing track "Get Yer Alphabets (Guns)" which throws together deep electro, beat music, and dubstep into the blender and comes out with pure ear candy. The inventiveness of this track alone makes the album worth getting.
People may be put off by all the genre hopping on Planet High School, however, this, for me, is what makes the record so special. If you tire of one track, there is not going to be another track like it and you can move on to something different. Some have said they wish Lindgren would focus on one type of sound, but I think that does a disservice to how people listen to music these days. I don't listen to one type of music. I fluidly jump back and forth between electronic acts, guitar driven indie, R&B, pop, and hip-hop, so much so, there is bleed-through with all of them. I say, keep doing what you are doing, it sure the hell is working for me.
Rating Scale:
Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.
Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.
Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.
Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.
Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.
Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.
Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.
Justice will likely close out the Sahara tent (and possibly the festival itself) Sunday night. I'm looking forward to catching their set, should I still have the energy.
Justice Audio, Video, Disco
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It
Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, the duo that comprises Justice, obviously have a secret desire to be out and out rock stars. Their debut †, although built on house music foundations, was filtered through a rock sheen, with blaring guitars, head bobbing rhythms, and plenty of swagger. What made † such a fascinating record was that it held so many surprises; its restless energy and go-for-broke attitude made it the coolest record of 2007. From the sing-song sample of ubiquitous single "D.A.N.C.E.," the brutal implied violence of "Stress," and crunchy, proto-industrial "Waters of Nazareth," the album never failed on its promise to entertain and get bodies on the dancefloor. In the interim, Augé and de Rosnay have been experimenting with different side projects and have been keeping a relatively low profile. Now, the follow up Audio, Video, Disco is out and if you are expecting † Part 2, there is a good chance you will be disappointed. Audio, Video, Disco is an ambitious attempt to marry prog rock, hair metal, Italia-disco, classical music, and basically any other genre of 70s/80s rock you can imagine into one concise package. Whether or not you find it successful depends on your love of and or acceptance of very over-the-top styles of music. There is nothing here that can remotely be called minimal or restrained. It is as if Mozart, Georgio Moroder, Queen, Genesis, Supertramp, Def Leppard, Quiet Riot, and any number of other hair metal bands got into a vicious car crash and the doctors had to merge all the disparate body parts together. As such, it is a complete mess stylistically, however, the brevity of the record (comes in a little over 40 minutes) makes it a very compact, easy listen. At first, the lack of any standout singles along the lines of "D.A.N.C.E." or "Stress" made the album very one note for me, but multiple listens, and listening to the album more as a suite of songs, increases the enjoyment factor. There is enough here to boost Justice past the sophomore slump, however, I wished for a little more distinctiveness across the entire album.
First single "Civilization" is about the easiest entry point into the record. Thumping beats over slap bass is taken over by portentous vocals and slowed down paces before building up from a whine of guitars to a catchy, head bobbing chorus:
Title track and second second single "Audio, Video, Disco," is a four to the floor banger with only the title as lyrics, and pumped up piano rolls and whirring synths. It's a silly, in the vein of Daft Punk, song but like all good ear candy, it is hard to get it out of your head.
The rest of the album is split between bizarre instrumental mashups and more song-oriented tracks, of which the song-oriented tracks are the less successful. "Ohio" appears to combine glockenspiel with The Eagles and the drum beat from NIN's "Closer," and is as odd as it sounds.
"On'n'on" is slightly more successful, flowing over a jaunty melody, but still sounding like a combination of Yes, King Crimson, and Peter Gabriel era Genesis:
"Newlands" is likely the most successful "song" on the album, though it does borrow a little too liberally from AC/DC and Queen.
Of the instrumentals, the best by far is the funky, driving "Canon" which perfectly marries crunchy guitar with an almost classical structure.
"Brianvision," on the other hand, takes the classical structure a little too far, and merely sounds like a song pulled directly from the 70s. "Parade" does what it can to make up for this, with its stuttered keyboards, "We Will Rock You" drums, and wailing guitars and chorus of voices.
"Helix" brings back the fun and excitement of †, putting together an interesting beat, snippets of vocal samples, and a funky synth vibe. It is truly the one time the album gets into an euphoric groove.
I applaud Justice for not just giving us † redux, however, I would have liked for them to have retained the sense of menace and unpredictability that † had in spades. Audio, Video, Disco is not a complete misstep like MGMT's Congratulations, but it does seem like a step back in way. Overall, the album is successful because the production is amazing and they keep to a recognizable template over the course of the record. I just wish there had been one or two tracks that stuck out as singles. It wouldn't kill them to wow us with another "D.A.N.C.E." now, would it?
Rating Guide:
Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.
Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.
Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.
Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.
Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.
Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.
Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.
Second video and single from Jamie Woon's upcoming album mirrorwriting.
One of many amazing singles on the new Strokes cd, Angles.
Sneak peak of the new Justice single "Civilization," appearing in an Adidas ad.
Two amazing tracks from Burial, Thom Yorke, and Four Tet.
The first three singles from Alex Clare's debut cd, Too Close. Probably my most anticipated cd of this year, next to Jamie Woon.
My favorite song from Animal Collective.
Interesting charity collaboration from Chris Taylor, Solange Knowles and Twin Shadow.
I never expected to like Kurt Vile, but his new album is completely captivating.
Another hot DJ playing Coachella.
Best song off the disappointing new R.E.M. album. Great video though.
Amazing song from the Barcelona dance/rock collective.
Another wonderful house/dubstep producer playing Coachella, that I am really excited about seeing.
Great song from FaltyDL's second album. Love the vocal a lot.
Frank Ocean is a singer loosely associated with the Odd Future hip hop collective. His album can be a bit hit or miss, but when he hits, as on this track, it can be brilliant.
Based on this cryptic video uploaded to YouTube, it appears a new Justice album is completed and ready for release sometime this year on Ed Banger Records. We shall see if this is real or a hoax.
